The House of Commons on Tuesday began
debate on a proposal to legalize gay marriage in England and Wales.
Debate on the measure, introduced last
month by MP Maria Miller in the lower chamber, began at about 1PM,
and has lasted almost 5 hours.
What is clear is that Conservatives are
deeply divided on the issue.
“This bill in no way makes a
requirement of faithfulness from same-sex couples,” MP Nadine
Dorries said. “In fact, it does the opposite.”
“In a heterosexual marriage a couple
can divorce for adultery, and adultery is if you have sex with a
member of the opposite sex. In a heterosexual marriage a couple vow
to forsake all others … A gay couple have no obligation to make a
vow [to faithfulness] because they do not have to forsake all others
because they cannot divorce for adultery. There is no requirement of
faithfulness. And if there is no requirement of faithfulness, what
is a marriage?”
MP Yvette Cooper answered that
question, telling colleagues that marriage was about commitment.
“As people live longer, the family
commitments involved in marriage are much wider than bringing up
children.”
“Most MPs will know the sadness but
also the inspiration they have drawn from visiting a married couple
where for example the wife is now struggling to cope, struggling to
remember the world around her and struggling to recognize even the
husband she has shared decades of her life with. Yet he carries on.
Cooking for her, washing her, getting her up, putting her to bed,
talking to her even as she becomes a stranger in front of him. That
is marriage.”
“But I also visited a gay man who
died some years ago, after a long illness in which he was cared for
every day – at home, in hospital and eventually in a hospice - by
his long term gay partner. I don't see why that can’t be marriage
too.”
“The idea that the biology of
procreation should deny same sex couples the respect that comes with
marriage, is to ignore the full richness, the happiness but also the
tragedies of modern family life For better, for worse, for richer,
for poorer, in sickness and in health. That is marriage.”
MP Peter Bone disagreed, saying that
this was the saddest day of his career as an MP.
Another opponent, MP Gerald Howarth,
called the process to approve the bill a “sham.”
“I am not a Tory modernizer. I
believe marriage can only be between a man and a woman and I shall
not surrender my principles. I believe this bill is wrong, the
consultation process was a complete sham, it is opposed by the
established church, it has caused deep and needless divisions within
the Conservative party, there is no mandate for it, there are huge
potential consequences, not least the prospect of endless legal
challenge, and the nation faces much more serious challenges which
the government needs to address. I therefore hope and pray that this
measure will be rejected, if not in this place, in the other place.”